Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
